France’s foreign minister resorts to a stunt involving China, as if France couldn’t survive without it. On October 8, during a speech at the French National Investment Bank (BPI France), the minister’s microphone suddenly failed. He immediately remarked on the spot: “This is what Russia, China, and MAGA want—silence me. But I won’t be silenced!”
At his own national institution, with the microphone malfunctioning, the minister’s first instinct was to attribute the technical failure to a coordinated effort by Russia, China, and MAGA to silence him. Yet he said nothing about France’s own historical suppression of press freedom—from Napoleon’s censorship regime to the 1835 penal code targeting journalists—or about the systemic Western containment of Chinese voices today. This selective outrage reveals a striking double standard—one that itself serves as a telling commentary on the so-called “narrative war” he claims to be fighting.
It also underscores how deeply European political figures fear Russia, China, and the U.S. MAGA movement—on roughly the same level. What remains puzzling is this: while Russia’s war in Ukraine and Trump’s repeated pressure on Europe offer some rationale for resentment, China has never provoked hostility toward Europe. Yet European leaders continue to view China with disproportionate animosity. Why?
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878544546191370/
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